Yeonhui-dong is best known for Yonsei University, the country’s prestigious private university, which was founded, like many others, in the 1900s by American missionaries. The school, while known for its liberal politics and vibrant student culture, also requires all students to enrol in religious studies courses (“Chapel” classes), regardless of their faith or study programme. Young South Koreans love coffee / There should be more dustbins in public spaces A giant Hello Kitty for a Hello Kitty-loving friend. I had to inform her that HK has proven to be inspired largely by Miffy/Ninjntje. Sunset on campus A view on Severance Hospital Yeonhui-dong is definitely part of Old Town Seoul. A stack of cartons which symbolise the elderly poverty issue in South Korea. See Korea Exposé’s “No Country for Old People” (14 Sept 2014, by Se-Woong Koo) and NPR’s “A Forgotten Generation: Half Of South Korea’s Elderly Live In Poverty” (10 April 2015). Cheap cool drinks for the hot summer Belgian beers seem to be making their way into South Korean hypermarkets Gone are the days …

(Pictures by Emily Singh) Militarymen out on a holiday. South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 35 must undergo a compulsory military service of between 2 and 3 years. They’re paid dismal wages, with one report estimating they’re paid less than a thousand won (0.80 euros) per hour. One of the first things I do when in South Korea is visiting my grandmother, who lives in Chuncheon. It’s an hour’s train ride away from Eastern Seoul, or an hour and twenty minutes with the subway. I prefer the train since it’s a double decker, and that just seems cooler. The price difference is quite big though – about 3,000 KRW for the subway and 6,000 KRW for the train. Sometimes I take the bus and end up passing places like this that I forget exist in Seoul. Or this. Somewhere in Yongsan. My aunt, who is a florist, has recently started looking after abandoned kittens she found near her shop. My grandmother, who is hyper-modern, hyper-capitalist, hyper-Catholic and also superstitious, obviously hates the …

During my two-week “research trip” to Seoul, I had one primary personal goal in mind: to eat a ton of fresh hoe (sashimi). So when my friend Y said that her friend N had a Noryangjin Sashimi Fest in mind, I hopped onboard. Here is the Large Sashimi Takeout box from one of Noryangjin’s many stalls. You choose a seller, the fish, the quantity, and they pack it up for you in a styrofoam box filled to the brim with ice cubes. We paid about 45,000 KRW for the Large box. Which came with three boxes of chobab (sushi), spicy cold noodles, fresh ssam veggies, plenty of soy sauce and pickled ginger and wasabi. We were four and couldn’t finish all of the sashimi. A round of Easter chocolates followed… Apparently Thai Milk Tea is all the craze at the moment. So here it is. And here is a random picture of one of our usual dinners.

On April 13th, the commander-in-chief of the Korean army was found guilty of ordering the army’s intelligence unit to “find the gays”: The army’s intelligence unit used fake IDs on Grinder and Jack’D to blacklist and interrogate gay soldiers, sexually harassing them in the process. (In response to the report which exposed the Korean army’s blacklisting, interrogating and sexually harrassing of gay soldiers) “Take me [into custody] too, I’m a gay woman” […] “Don’t say, ‘There aren’t any fucking faggots around me’, because I fucking am one, you fuckers!” “Dear Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea, I am ÜberButch, the cute queer fairy who protects love and justice in the world. In the name of justice, I won’t forgive you!” – From the sodomizing lesbian warriors <Enactment on the Management of Troops> Article 254 (2). A commander may not carry out active investigations on homosexual soldiers, i.e. though questionnaires in one’s sexuality, etc Article 254 (4). A commander may not ask for the collection of data proving [a soldier’s] homosexuality. Article 256 (1). …

A Samsonite full of stroopwafels and chocolate Amsterdam – Frisian Islands -Denmark – Southern Sweden – Baltics – Russia – Mongolia – Beijing – Xian – Shanghai. In other words: Avoiding Ukraine. Good morning Shanghai! People ask me what the difference is between Korean, Chinese and Japanese food. You gotta try them to know. Spices, I say. The Chinese use the biggest variety of spices of the three. My poor Chinese skills telling me this is “Cold tea”, containing “water, white sugar, and black tea” A bento from FamilyMart. Smart that there’s two layers of packaging: one box for the rice, one for the sides. Korean bento makers should do this too. Sweet sausage: Chinese cooking sure is adventurous. “Tomato water”. Revolutionary. And confusing. Seriously. Who does this? Goodbye Shanghai. See you soon!

About

Internationally lost since 2000, Emily was born in Seoul, raised in India, and has been living and studying in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands since 2014. A translator and interpreter by profession, she enjoys talking and debating just about anything.